USF football coach Brian Hartline was frequently mentioned in connection with other jobs, but he kept staying at Ohio State. In an interview with On3.com, Hartline talked about why coming to Tampa was finally the right move at the right time.
“I think that ultimately, it’s still a hunch in the end, right?” Hartline told On3's Ari Wasserman. “I mean, there’s still a gut call at the end. There are a couple of things, frankly. The ultimate vision of being able to win consistently and chase championships wherever I’m at was very, very important. I felt like it was here and attainable at USF, and, frankly, probably at a higher level than it’s been.
“The the ability to do that also is involved with players, right? I mean, your resources are really important. Having resources that match expectations is really important. In this new world in the portal, I think that being in a spot that is easily accessible to players returning home really helps. There are a lot of things that were lining up. I think ultimately, there was a gut call saying this is the right time. My wife was very adamant on, ‘Brian, it’s time.’ And then when you have that side of it, as you guys know, family, what it was really the perfect match.”
Hartline has been on a trajectory toward a head coaching job for several years, so it was no surprise that he accomplished that goal. But it was a big surprise to many that he chose South Florida as his landing spot.
At Ohio State, he had a deserved reputation as a top recruiter and an elite developer of wide receiver talent such as Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr., Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, and Jameson Williams. Five of his players were first-round NFL draft selections.
As the On3 article notes though, can he do it with the cache of Ohio State to sell?
“There’s something to it,” Hartline said. “How did that run happen? These guys wanted to play with other elite players. These guys were coming to Ohio State without guarantees.
"These guys were coming to Ohio State for less, you know, in the business world, knowing they can get more on the back end, because they believed in Coach (Ryan) Day, they believed in the quarterback situation, they believed in the offense, they believed in applying myself as a position coach. All that married together is why that was able to work.”
He's off to a good start at USF. 247Sports ranked his Transfer Portal class as 53rd in the country, That is tops in the Group of 5 and better than 17 power conference teams.
LACROSSE ROLLS IN SEASON OPENER
The second season of women's lacrosse got off to a strong start as USF drubbed Niagara 20-5.
Attacker Elise Grissett had six goals to the Bulls, who had 10 players hit the back of the net.
USF wasted no time in taking command, jumping to a 6-0 lead after one quarter. It was 12-4 by halftime and the Bulls cruised from there.
In their inaugural season in 2025, USF finished 13-5 and advanced to the championship game of the American Athletic Conference tournament.
In the preseason conference coaches' poll, the Bulls were picked to finish second behind defending champion James Madison.
USF's next game is February 15 at home against Michigan.
BASEBALL GETTING READY TO START
The Bulls made a big leap in 2025 under first-year coach Mitch Hannahs. USF finished in third place in the American Conference after being picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll.
After losing seasons in five of the previous six years, the Bulls finished 31-25 overall and 16-11 in the conference. It was their first winning regular-season record in the conference since 2018. They're looking for more this season.
The Bulls open the season on February 13 at home with the first of a three-game series against Illinois. USF ranked 5th in the conference preseason polll, but they have much higher ambitions than that.
At USF's preseason media day, Fox 13 Tampa Bay reported the Bulls believe they are ready to roll.
"There's no more excuses," USF senior infielder Rafael Betancourt said. "We are ready to make a postseason run."
SOFTBALL RALLIES TO GET FIRST WIN
Just when it looked like the Bulls might fall to 0-3 in the young season, they came off the deck with an explosion of offense in their final two at-bats to power past Kansas 12-4.
The Kansas game came after 5-1 losses against Illinois State and 4-0 to Michigan. And when the Jayhawks took a 4-0 lead into the fifth inning, things weren't looking good.
The Bulls had been plagued by a lack of offense in the early going.
After scoring a single run in the first inning against Illinois State, USF went 17 innings without scoring, before breaking through with three runs in the 5th inning against Kansas. That ignited the Bulls and they got on a roll.
They erupted for nine more runs in the sixth, starting with a 3-run homer by freshman Toryn Fulton. That gave the Bulls their first lead of the game and they kept piling on from there. A single by catcher Kiley Strott drove in the winning mercy-rule run.
The Bulls will try to kept against Bethune-Cookman with a 10-0 mercy-rule win in the nighbcap..
On Sunday at 2:35 p.m. they host the Florida Gators.